are you sure its not you two that's got it wrong? with the best will in the world, what Ake says isn't a rant. that is really how it is in many parts of the country. i'm happy for you that you have missed seeing poor people living in desperate conditions - willing to work for less than a living wage, work on the black, work for gangers, work on commission....its always been half the economy of this country. that's what the unions were made to combat - and its why they're not allowed in many industries.

you really do need a reality check.

i disagree with Strolling Johnny/Backwoodsman about Brexit - but I'm pretty sure he will tell you how the hard drugs became the mainstay of the economy when the mines went in the north notts area. working men became the lumpenproletariat - willing to work in out of the way factories for a hundred quid a week to blow on a weekend. things really were that bad, and into this hell broth came the economic refugees from every corner of the globe.

if you lived somewhere where this didn't happen count yourself bloody lucky - but be assured it happened.